A 15-year-old boy in Lebanon died while participating in ongoing efforts to extinguish a gigantic forest fire in the north of the country, where relief workers are struggling Thursday, July 29 to contain the blaze that threatens inhabited areas.
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Died Wednesday in the Qoubayat region, the teenager was among the inhabitants of the area "
who rushed to the site to try to put out the fire,
" said the Lebanese civil defense. Eight people were taken to hospital and 25 treated locally by ambulances, while 17 residents were evacuated, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.
"
The situation on the ground is frightening,
" Agriculture Minister Abbas Mortada told AFP on Thursday.
"
The fire is huge, it has destroyed many wooded areas, and now threatens houses,
" he added, assuring that fields and orchards are threatened.
"
We do not have the capacity to extinguish the fire, for this we hope that friendly countries will be by our side in the hours to come
", added the Minister.
Lebanese authorities have contacted Cyprus, a nearby Mediterranean island, to request the dispatch of water bombers to support Lebanese army helicopters and civil defense teams, the Agency reported on Wednesday evening. national information ANI.
Each year, with the summer season and the hot weather exacerbated by global warming, Lebanon and neighboring Syria are in the grip of more and more recurring fires. In October 2019, the country experienced fires in the mountains south of the capital. The authorities had struggled to contain the fires, the Lebanese seeing it as further proof of the carelessness of the public authorities.
